Militants force suspension of Lake Project in North Kashmir

SRINAGAR: Work on a controversial project in Wullar Lake stands suspended for the third consecutive day after militants demolished part of the work during a midnight raid early this week. The project is aimed at increasing the storage capacity of the lake that will help officials undo the encroachment and improve lean-season discharge downstream.

"Work has come to standstill," Chief Engineer Irrigation and Flood Control A M Lankar said. "Police have deployed a detachment near the spot which can offer physical security to the project but workers would require some sort of psychological security." Lankar said they will re-assess the situation so that work resumed at the earliest. "We were almost one-third through and would require around eight months more to complete the projects."

Terming it a "small embankment project", engineers in I&FC said it is aimed at "preventing backwaters damaging Sumbal and Naidkhie areas". Besides, they point out; it will improve the navigability of the river for tourism purposes. Minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din says the project is part of the larger conservation project that will improve the overall socio-economic profile of the people living around. An increased water level will submerge all the recent encroachments that are chocking Asia's only fresh water lake, a Ramsar site.

But what is making the project controversial is its location. The Tulbul Navigation Lock - which Pakistan terms Wullar Barrage, was supposed to be built very close to this spot. The Lock was supposed to come up at Ningli and this project is being implemented at Adipora. Navigation Lock was aimed at improving the water level so that it increases lean-season navigability of the river between Sopore and Baramulla. But the actual benefit would have gone to the power projects downstream.

It was in after 1984 when the project was nearing completion that Pakistan objected to the project. Invoking the water sharing Indus Water Treaty, Islamabad said the project is a violation. Work on the project stopped in 1987. Since then, there were 11 rounds of talks - the last in March 2012, and negotiations defied a breakthrough.

After a series of clear hints by water resources ministry in Delhi and Srinagar that the project would be revived that work on embankment started. There were more than 300 labourers and scores of machines working for last many months. Officials, however, said the project has nothing to do with the controversial initiative that was "literally abandoned" after spending more than Rs 200 crore. After the Navigation Lock was abandoned, militancy broke out and in the resultant anarchy entire assets were looted excepting a giant rush iron wheel that required a huge carriage.

The work stopped after militants raided the site early this week during dead of the night. Workers who were on the spot said some of them were beaten after they refused to use the earthmovers to dismantle the constructions already made. Militants demolished a shed and threatened workers not to return. The incident triggered reports that the raiders might have been foreigners who were specially assigned the job of halting the work of the project.

"I was visiting Ladakh and will be in a position to offer some details once I meet the engineers," Lankar told The ET from Jammu. "It is quite possible that the people whose encroachments would get submerged could be behind the move, who know?"

SP Sopore, Imtiaz Mir, in the meanwhile has told reporters that the entire gang of raiders comprised of three Hizb ul Mujahideen militant and their three over ground workers. While militant carried AK 56 rifles, the OWGs were carrying pistols. Though he claimed all the six are idenmto9fied and none of them was a foreigner, Mir said it will still take some time for them to arrest the gang. He discounted reports that the security force including army, Marcos, the naval commandos stationed in Wullar lake, have launched a massive operation in the entire belt to nab the raiders. Mir's claim that works on the project stands resumed was not independently confirmed. Sources said while the contractors and all his non local labourer have fled from the spot.